After re-opening the case in January 2009, and based on the evidence compiled since that time, I find that this incident is unexplained. What finally convinced me was the removal of two major stumbling blocks to the credibility of the incident, Commander Bethune's reliability, falsely based on guilt-by-association with Steven Greer, AND the often-reported presence of the Moon during UFO sightings, this one in particular. Bethune's credibility has now been confirmed by Robert Durant and the fact that four other pilots and navigators (plus other passengers) also reported the sighting, makes it clear that the simplest explanation is that an unknown object was sighted low and ahead of the plane (then an indefinite source), approached the aircraft (then became circuler), reversed it course and zoomed over the horizon just as described. The apparent size, phase, and location of the Moon was noted by some of the witnesses and was simply not capable of fooling this number of seasoned pilots and navigators. The reports filed with the Air Force were mainly short witness statements and not detailed Form 164-like questionaires as used in many previous year's BB reports. Durant's investigation also shows that Bethune, although beginning to suffer from dimentia or altheimer's when interrogated by him, was non-the-less reliable and not fabricating anything and attested to the fact that detailed reports should have been filed, and that there were several different aircraft compasses that were reacting during this close encounter. This was not an aircraft, balloon or missile (let alone a fixed structure), but a night close encounter (diameter est at 400') with multiple exceptional witnesses, highly strange suggesting intelligent guidance.

As Bob Durant said (in his report) it seems silly that all of these pilot, navigator and engineer resources aboard this one airplane could not identify this object as the Moon considering a celestial fix [not the Moon] was taken not long before. There are too many loose ends to the Lunar theory. The position isn't exact, the direction isn't exact, the wind direction with winds reported at between 60 and 70 knots - but from what direction - could have had the aircraft crabbing with the nose as much as 20 degrees away from the track line. Ergo the Moon setting can't be determined from the aircraft's position. The movenments of this object as reported by the witnesses pretty much precludes the Moon. The Moon from that position would have the cresent on the side in a vertical position. It would have been narrow and insignificant in the sky. Any mistaking of the Auror Borealis as an explanation for the event, to my mind is absurd, like mistaking a pillow for a bobby-pin.